Wednesday, September 1, 2010

GIVING IT A TRY

Yesterday I decided to give my new scooter a decent tryout. The weather was pleasant, and I needed a couple of things from a nearby shopping center. Now the shortest route to that shopping center is to scoot the half mile down to El Camino, cross the street, turn right, and continue on the sidewalk about another mile to the stores. That’s only about 3 miles round trip. But that route for me on a scooter is fraught with peril. First, there are large sections of the sidewalk that are in bad condition. Well, not really bad; ghastly would be a better description. Then the route entails crossing both an entrance and an exit to a freeway that goes under El Camino. Not the safest thing in the world.

So! What to do? I take the long way around. What I call “the back way” along the Stevens Creek Trail. While somewhat longer -- about 5 miles round trip, it offers some distinct advantages. Now I didn’t have my camera with me yesterday, but about a year and a half ago, I had scootered over the trail taking pictures that I posted. These shots are from that ride.

There are bicyclists -- both avid exercisers, and what appear to be entire families. One also finds hikers.

And there are folks walking their dogs.

There is also a feature that I really appreciate. As one approaches El Camino, there is a tunnel under that very busy street. It comes out on the “business” side of the street. And it completely bypasses the freeway exits and entrances!

Yes, I do like that route. Perhaps the extra distance is an advantage. Oh, and the new scooter performed right up to expectations. The old one presumably had a range of 12 miles, but I couldn’t trust it. The new one is rated at 20 miles, so with an approximate round trip of 5 miles, I expected the battery indicator to be down about one-fourth. And that’s just about what it was. Good enough.